[JupiterBMW]

So I just installed these into my E91 and the light output is, well, interesting.

Any thoughts?! I had the H8 160s in my E90 M3 and the light output and color was as described by Lux, uniform and bright. These are giving off a very strange look.

LuxAngelEyes feel free to chime in here. Can’t say I’m thrilled for $229.

[KKevin]

Personally it looks fine to me, im sure all the photos have filters on them or adjusted brightness. Perhaps in the night time they look better.

[LuxAngelEyes]

pictures from up close will always look really strange. The outer ring is only visible when stepping back from the car 30 feet or so due to the physical shape of the ring itself. Also just make sure the bulbs are twisted into place by hand snug

Not sure if you were doing other work or not, but to install these you only need to open the hood and get to the back of the headlight, you dont need to remove the bumper or anything else

[lnxguy]

Thanks the engineers that designed the halos on the e90/e91. You'll never have uniform lighting.

[JupiterBMW]

Originally Posted by KKevin

Personally it looks fine to me, im sure all the photos have filters on them or adjusted brightness. Perhaps in the night time they look better.

I think you are partly correct. Looking again, there are ZERO photos on the Lux H8 189 page on the website showing anything other than an E9x M3 headlight (or an E70). They do look better at night, naturally, but again, my issue here is the mismatch of the light color. I did not have this issue with the H8 160s I had put in my E90 M3 prior to this car.

Originally Posted by LuxAngelEyes

pictures from up close will always look really strange. The outer ring is only visible when stepping back from the car 30 feet or so due to the physical shape of the ring itself. Also just make sure the bulbs are twisted into place by hand snug

Not sure if you were doing other work or not, but to install these you only need to open the hood and get to the back of the headlight, you dont need to remove the bumper or anything else

I did a very mild headlight rebuild (added the Lux bulbs, painted the inner light housing black as opposed to the metallic grey look, and new outer lenses). That is the reason for full removal/bumper off, etc... As for only seeing the outer rings from far away, I beg to differ. The attached two photos show my H8 160s in my E90 M3 and the H8 189s in my E91. Its very clear that the color is off, and the spread is weird as well. I understand one is inside and one is outside, but even still its a HUGE difference.

Originally Posted by lnxguy

Thanks the engineers that designed the halos on the e90/e91. You'll never have uniform lighting.

I know the setup isn't ideal, but look at the pics below...

[lnxguy]

I wonder if you've got some cracked halos. Have you tried rotating the bulb to see if the outer ring improves?

After ripping apart a set of e90 lights to retrofit some different projectors, really easy to tell why the outer ring always looks like shit.

[JupiterBMW]

Originally Posted by lnxguy

I wonder if you've got some cracked halos. Have you tried rotating the bulb to see if the outer ring improves?

After ripping apart a set of e90 lights to retrofit some different projectors, really easy to tell why the outer ring always looks like shit.

Yeah I double checked everything, even pulled the bulbs out and individually looked at each of the LEDs to make sure no damages. Nothing really caught my eye.

At this point I've kind of accepted it, its just disappointing that a product THIS expensive (even more expensive than the previous version, the H8 160) doesn't seem to be up to par.

Lesson learned I guess.

[KKevin]

Originally Posted by JupiterBMW

I think you are partly correct. Looking again, there are ZERO photos on the Lux H8 189 page on the website showing anything other than an E9x M3 headlight (or an E70). They do look better at night, naturally, but again, my issue here is the mismatch of the light color. I did not have this issue with the H8 160s I had put in my E90 M3 prior to this car.

I know the setup isn't ideal, but look at the pics below...

Might have to go with the aftermarket route like a good chunk of enthusiasts do, I wasnt happy with my oems for the same reason.

Side note: your epoxy floors look great

[LuxAngelEyes]

Could you please post up a picture from farther back? Pictures up close will never look correct. The H8 160 and the H8 189 use the same design of the LED's so i dont see how they could look any different. The LED's are in the same orientation.

[pb335i]

I did notice this slight change on mine as well when I upgraded to the H8 189 from the H8 160. I had my H8 160’s for about 4-5 years until one side burned out so I upgraded in 2020 to the H8 189 and had noticed that in certain areas of the outer ring when up close that it seemed to not fully illuminate it but from a far it was not noticeable especially in comparison to others.

Although, my H8 189’s recently just burned out/barely lit on my driver side so it lasted about 3 years now so now I’m bummed out and have to dish out another $230 for a pair that should’ve lasted me longer than my previous 160’s.

But going back to your question OP, yes I can say I have noticed or at least questioned myself the same thing instantly when I had upgraded from the H8 160’s to the H8 189’s. I think the inner ring just seemed a lot more brighter in comparison to the outer ring from the 2 pairs.

Just my feedback, I still do enjoy Lux as they have one of the best light outputs for bulb replacements in my opinion.

[bmw335ie90]

The outer light will never match the inner, especially on LCI Xenon. For some reason yours look super yellow though which is odd, mine are mostly white with a very faint blue/purple hue.

Here are 189s in the most IDEAL viewing angle, if you take even a few steps away from the center of the car the brightness of the outer drops significantly.

[The Nightman]

Originally Posted by JupiterBMW

As for only seeing the outer rings from far away, I beg to differ. The attached two photos show my H8 160s in my E90 M3 and the H8 189s in my E91. Its very clear that the color is off, and the spread is weird as well. I understand one is inside and one is outside, but even still its a HUGE difference.


I know the setup isn't ideal, but look at the pics below...

The E90/E91 angel eye optics are terrible and will never have uniform brightness like other models unfortunately.



I've given up on expensive LEDs and just use cheap Amazon bulbs since they more or less look the same...

[JupiterBMW]

Originally Posted by bmw335ie90

The outer light will never match the inner, especially on LCI Xenon. For some reason yours look super yellow though which is odd, mine are mostly white with a very faint blue/purple hue.

Here are 189s in the most IDEAL viewing angle, if you take even a few steps away from the center of the car the brightness of the outer drops significantly.

THIS. Thank you. I haven't had a chance to get a photo up, but I can promise you, mine look NOTHING like yours, and what I am most confused by is the outer ring looking so yellow. Your photo looks a LOT like the H8 160 I had in my E90 M3. If these bulbs were even close to yours, I wouldn't have made this post!

Originally Posted by The Nightman

The E90/E91 angel eye optics are terrible and will never have uniform brightness like other models unfortunately.



I've given up on expensive LEDs and just use cheap Amazon bulbs since they more or less look the same...

Great diagram, thank you. That being said, I am fully aware of the optics as I had the whole light disassembled for some other work, so I got a good look and completely understand how the little diffusion is weird. But it still doesn't explain the stark color difference. Thanks for the reply though, appreciate it!